Finding Focus: Attention Can be Trained
+ 3 Other Fun Facts About Attention
Many of the clients who come to LearningRx with an ADHD diagnosis (for themselves or their child or teen) are at the very beginning of their search for help. They often don’t know about the different types of attention, that ADHD is actually rooted in clusters of weak cognitive skills, or how brain skills like attention can be trained. Some have tried tutoring or classroom accommodations, only to be left frustrated by a lack of long-term progress and helplessness around a lack of interventions to address the root cause of attention struggles.
But there’s good news for those who are challenged by an inability to focus in school, sports, work, or life in general: Attention—as well as other brain skills—can be trained. In fact, one-on-one cognitive skills training, also known as “personal brain training,” has helped more than 100,000 individuals sharpen their cognitive skills to help them think faster, learn easier, and perform better. Here’s what you need to know about attention, ADHD, and cognitive skills training.
1. Attention isn’t the only weak cognitive skill associated with ADHD.
Cognitive skills are the core skills our brains use to think, read, learn, remember, reason, and pay attention. They include attention, memory (long-term and working), logic & reasoning, auditory processing, visual processing, and processing speed. Working together, these brain skills take income information and move it into the bank of knowledge we use every day at school, in sports, at work, and in life. But because each of your cognitive skills plays an important part in processing new information, it only takes one weak link to impact the chain of grasping, retaining or using that information. In fact, more than 80% of learning struggles are caused by one or more weak skills. In people with an ADHD diagnosis, for example, focus is impacted, but so are other brain skills.
A study of 5,416 adult and youth clients who came to LearningRx with an ADHD diagnosis found that attention wasn’t the only weak attention skill. Other cognitive skills, such as long-term memory, processing speed, and working memory, were also in need of strengthening. Understanding that attention struggles are often rooted in clusters of weak cognitive skills helps ensure that any interventions for individuals with an ADHD diagnosis include training to strengthen multiple cognitive skills.
2. ADHD often manifests differently in girls.
ADHD is now an umbrella term that covers attention struggles with three distinct presentations: inattentive, hyperactive/impulsive, and a combination of the two.
You may not be surprised to hear that boys are three times more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD compared to girls. But what you might not know is that this is largely due to the fact that ADHD in boys tends to manifest as hyperactive and impulsive behaviors, which are often easier to spot due to their impact on the classroom. Girls, on the other hand, tend to predominantly display symptoms of inattention, which may look more like daydreaming or “spacing out” in class.
More specifically, hyperactivity/impulsivity may look like:
- Poor impulse control
- Seeking stimulation
- Trouble staying seated
- Impatience, interrupting
- Talking excessively
- Fidgeting or restlessness
- Challenges regulation emotions
On the flip side, inattention may look like:
- Trouble paying attention
- Forgetfulness/losing things
- Difficulty managing time
- Poor attention to detail
- Challenges with organization
- Easily bored
- Not listening when spoken to
3. Attention can be trained with purposeful distractions.
Attention itself can be broken down into three specific types: sustained, selective, and divided. Here are three explanations of each type of attention and common problems that people with weak attention skills tend to experience:
Sustained Attention: Enables us to stay focused and on task for a sustained period of time
When sustained attention is weak, you may see the person jump from task to task, leaving unfinished project in their wake.
Selective Attention: Enables us to stay focused and on a task despite distractions
When selective attention is weak, you may notice the person can be easily distracted from the task at hand.
Divided Attention: Enables us to remember information while doing two things at once
When divided attention is weak, you may notice that the person has difficulty multitasking and makes frequent mistakes.
The right intervention for attention struggles will start with a comprehensive cognitive skills assessment, which will help determine which brain skill clusters are already strong and which could use a boost. With the results of a Brain Skills Assessment, experts can create a personalized brain training plan to target and train specific cognitive skills for the individual.
Unlike accommodations, which seek to remove distractions so students can focus on their work, one-on-one brain training intentionally includes them by training students individually but in one big (and busy!) room. So while the task at hand might be to primarily train working memory or processing speed, the student will also be working on their attention skills by staying focused despite other distracting trainer-trainee activities around the room.
4. Unaddressed focus struggles can lead to other issues.
Generally speaking, attention struggles don’t just go away on their own. You need look no further than the number of college students and other adults being diagnosed with ADHD. In fact, unaddressed attention struggles can lead to other issues down the road beyond just poor grades or difficulty getting into a college.
Adults with undiagnosed ADHD or unaddressed attention struggles often see the impact manifest as low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, time-management challenges, chronic disorganization, and difficulty managing money. But it doesn’t have to be that way!
The beauty of cognitive skills training is that it can benefit learners of all ages and abilities. From memory loss and dyslexia to autism and concussions, personal brain training has helped more than 100,000 children, teens, soldiers, adults, and seniors improve the way they think, learn, read, and remember. Just as attention can be targeted and trained, so too, can other cognitive skills.
Ready to take the first step to improve focus and concentration? Click here to contact us and schedule a no-obligation Brain Skills Assessment. It only takes about an hour and the results can be truly eye-opening when it comes to understanding the struggles you or your loved one has been facing.
